Americana Grammy Winners Announced

Seasoned musicians like Steve Martin and Emmylou Harris continued to add to their Grammy
arsenal on Sunday (Jan. 26).

Martin and Edie Brickell won in the category of best American roots song for “Love Has Come for You.” This is Martin’s fifth Grammy, including his two wins in the comedy field.

“Well, we are truly stunned, if I can speak for Edie — and I will — especially [in] such a distinguished group of nominees. We started doing this as a sport, really, and we kept doing it. And we are really, deeply honored. Thank you very much,” Martin said.

“Thank you so much. Thanks to Steve for inspiring me. And thanks to everybody,” added Brickell, who marked her first Grammy win.

“I also wanted to add that working with Edie is incredible. She’s one of the greatest lyricists I’ve worked with,” Martin stated.

Harris and Rodney Crowell collected the trophy for best Americana album with Old Yellow Moon. This was Harris’ 13th win and Crowell’s second, following his win for “After All This Time” earning the 1989 best country song.

“Yeah, this is good. I want to thank [album producer] Brian Ahern. I want to thank the Americana Music Association. I want to thank all of the musicians that recorded with us. We couldn’t have made a record without them,” Crowell said. “Emmylou couldn’t be here tonight because her brother has had a surgery, and she’s a good sister, and she stayed home to tend to him. I dedicate this to my four daughters and my lovely wife, Claudia. Thank you.”

The Del McCoury Band also picked up their second Grammy win for best bluegrass album with The Streets of Baltimore. Their previous win was a 2005 Grammy for their album, The Company We Keep.

Leading the remarks, Del McCoury said, “Thank you, folks. First I’d like to thank my Lord for the talent to sing and play music. And I’d also like to thank my wife Jean for listening to me sing all these years. I would’ve probably gotten tired of listening to me. I’d like to also thank all of these guys onstage with me. … They’re the ones that made this record possible and made it sound great. I just did a few parts here and there, you know. I’d like to also thank my Grand Ole Opry family back there in Tennessee.”

Ronnie McCoury, one of his two sons in the ensemble, added, “I’d just like to say, very few people get to experience what we do. We’ve traveled the road with my father all these years. So to be up here with him and to celebrate this with him is an incredible honor that very few people ever get to have. Thank you to the Academy and all of our families. We love them so very much.”

Rob McCoury, the other son in the group, noted, “Thanks, Dad. This is all you. You did it all. You found the material, you sung all the songs, you produced the record, you mixed the record. This is all you!”

The Del McCoury Band also features Alan Bartram and Jason Carter.

Guy Clark, who was not present, won the best folk album award for My Favorite Picture of You. This is Clark’s first Grammy.

“I want to apologize to Dolly Parton for depriving her of anything at all. She’s one of my biggest heroes and it’s an honor to be nominated with everyone in this category,” White said. “I want to thank my beautiful wife and my four kids. My wife has me at home a lot right now, and I hope she’s still happy about that.”

In addition to thanking a friend for tending his chilly pipes at home and Phil Madiera for co-writing the song, White did not thank his duo partner, Joy Williams, who was also a co-writer on the song. The duo split in the summer of 2012 and released their self-titled project last year.

The duo won two 2011 Grammys for their debut album Barton Hollow — one for best country duo/group performances, the other for best folk album. Last year, they shared a win with Taylor Swift for co-writing “Safe and Sound,” in the category of best song written for visual media, in this case, The Hunger Games.

“Oh, my goodness, this is crazy! Thank you so much. The fact that this song was chosen as the best out of so many amazing songs in a year, it just blows my mind. This song’s changed my life,” Musgraves stated. “I will never forget the day that we were sitting down in the middle of nowhere in Texas and this song just came to us kinda out of nowhere. You never know what you’re going to get in a co-write, and we tapped into something really special that day. I’m just so thankful. I never get tired of playing that song. It’s so special to me. Thank you all so much.”